Giants summer questionnaire: Linebacker Michael Boley

Chris Faytok/The Star-LedgerGiants linebacker Michael Boley said getting his Super Bowl XLVI ring was the best part of winning a championship.

One of the guys that might not have gotten enough credit for his role in the Giants' run to Super Bowl XLVI is Michael Boley. The veteran linebacker, entering his fourth season with the team in 2012, helped keep the defense together after middle linebacker Jonathan Goff was lost with a knee injury.

Boley, who had two sacks against the Packers in the Divisional Round victory in Lambeau, was pretty much the team's middle linebacker for the majority of the season because defensive coordinator Perry Fewell ran so many nickel and dime packages.

Boley discusses his role, as well as the model Fewell might've set for the rest of the league, in this installment of our Giants summer questionnaire:

This league has always been a copycat league and Super Bowl champs often leave a mark. One of the things that stands out about you guys last season was how much nickel defense you played after losing Goff. Do you think that’s perhaps a standard you’ve help set, with an emphasis on guys like you and Jacquian Williams that can run?

There’s no doubt. Our league has been ever-evolving toward a pass-first league and teams are adjusting. I mean, you never know (if the trend will continue). There are teams out there who love to run the ball. But if you look at the overall picture, more teams pass than run. And it’s kind of one of those things where the skill guys are getting better every year, so defenses are being forced to play smaller, faster guys.

You’ve added Keith Rivers to help in that regard. What have you seen from him so far?

He’s impressive. He stepped right in and kind of mixed right in, like he’d been here for a while. He’s only going to continue to get more comfortable, too.

You’d always thought about winning the Super Bowl. Was there one particular moment when you thought, ‘This is exactly how I hoped it would be’?

Man, getting the ring. Once you actually get that ring and actually have it in your hand and you sit back and look at it, you get that great feeling like, ‘We finally did it.’

How much have you worn it?

I haven’t worn it a lot. I’m not a big jewelry person. But I wear it if I’m going to an event, I’ll wear it.

I know some guys like to put it away once training camp starts. Is that your plan?

Yeah, put it away. I’ll put it in a safe-deposit box. There’s no point in keeping it at home. And then, later down the road when I retire, I’ll make myself a nice little trophy room and put it up on the mantle. But for now, it’s all about getting the next one.